


Trust Me Not

by Spinofflady



Series: Race to the Edge [6]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:06:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8471395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spinofflady/pseuds/Spinofflady
Summary: Learning to live with Catia is harder than anyone expected. She doesn't trust them, and they aren't sure they traits her either. She is soon realized not to be the tough and savage person they thought she was, but a similar discovery is made about Hiccup. Strife immediately take control of Dragon's Edge, and this time, there isn't a way for Hiccup to fix it.





	1. Chapter 1

“Let me get this straight,” Astrid repeated, her arms folded. “Catia just gave you Toothless and all of our gold back?”

“Yes,” Hiccup answered again, sighing. “She just gave them to me.”

“She didn’t make any deals or treaties?” Fishlegs put in.

“No. All she asked was that I tell no one where she was. That’s it. She’s so scared of people knowing where she is that she was willing to give me all this to keep her location a secret. I can’t imagine being willing to give up all that gold just to stay hidden.” Hiccup shook his head and took another sip of water from his cup as he leaned back on the table.

“I can,” Heather muttered under her breath, running her fingers over her axe.

“What did you say?” Astrid asked, not quite hearing what she had said.

“I can imagine paying that much to stay hidden,” Heather repeated, setting her axe down and resting her hands in her lap, staring sadly at the floor. “I know what it’s like to be all on your own. The last thing you want is more enemies. The best way to avoid that is to stay hidden at all cost.”

Astrid put an arm around her friend’s shoulder, seeing the sorrow in Heather’s eyes. “You didn’t try to make enemies, Heather. Catia is different. She wants something out of us.”

“Astrid, I’ve been in her shoes. It isn’t easy to watch your own back. I needed support, and so does she. I needed somewhere safe, and so does she.”

“Hold on a minute, Heather,” Hiccup jumped in. “What are you saying here?”

“We can’t just leave her there!” Heather replied passionately. “She’ll never make it on her own. If you guys hadn’t brought me here, I could’ve been killed, or worse. I was headed down the dangerous road of solitude, and believe me, it’s hard to turn around. I almost forgot how to trust people, and I think Catia already has. We have to help her!”

“Heather, she doesn’t trust us,” Astrid replied, hoping that she would understand how unrealistic her notions were. “She would never let us help her. There is nothing we can do.”

“You didn’t give up on me. We have to do the same for Catia.” Heather crossed her arms stubbornly. “We have to at least try.”

“I think we will try in vain,” Hiccup told her simply. “We understand that you want to help, Heather. But I really don’t think that she will agree to anything we offer her.”

“We have to do something! Even if it doesn’t work, we can’t abandon her.”

“It’s not abandonment if we weren’t involved to begin with,” Hiccup said, slowly getting annoyed with Heather’s urge to help Catia. “This could put us all in danger. I don’t want to sound insensitive, but she’s not some lost puppy that we can bring under our wings. She’s threatened to kill us on multiple occasions.”

“So?” Heather went on, pleading with her friends to do something. “I stole from you guys. I gave the book of dragons to Alvin. I lied and spied on you. I refused your help. I actually tried to prevent you from helping me. I pretended to work against you. But I’m still here. You still treat me like I’m your friend, like all the awful stuff I’ve done doesn’t matter. The support I had from all of you is the only reason I’m still here. Please understand that we can’t just forget about this. Catia needs our help.”

“Heather’s right,” Astrid said finally. “About a week ago I considered Catia my friend. Friends don’t turn on each other. Just because something went wrong does not mean that she’s downright evil. Maybe me have to work a little bit to get the sweet Catia we knew back, but she’s in there somewhere. We just have to give her reason to show.”

“Exactly what are the two of you suggesting?” Hiccup asked, crossing his arms and eyeing them, knowing that they could easily get carried away with their “help.”

“Let’s invite her to spend some time at Dragon’s Edge,” Heather suggested, “like you guys did with me.”

“Maybe she’ll open up a bit,” Astrid continued for her friend. “Besides, she’s a great Healer, and with as often as we get hurt, it would be good to have her around.”

“For all we now she could be working for Viggo,” Snotlout pointed out, only for the sake of being a part of the conversation. “She’d probably kill us in our sleep.”

“She doesn’t work for Viggo,” Heather assured. “She stole from him, and gave what she stole to us. And if she’s can out smart Viggo enough to steal from him, don’t you think that could help us? We need her strategies and she needs our support.”

“How do you propose we ‘invite’ her?” Hiccup asked skeptically.

“Heather and I will go,” Astrid answered confidently. “We’ll offer her a peace treaty and protection from Viggo in exchange for her help.”

“If she’s smart, she’ll agree,” Heather finished. “We’re her best option.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to agree to this,” Hiccup sighed, shaking his head at what felt like a rash decision. “But I’d much rather her a friend than an enemy. Go ahead and see if she’ll listen to anything we have to say.”

Astrid and Heather jumped up, beaming, and rushed out the door. Hiccup frowned as he saw how easily Heather could outrun Astrid, who still walked with a slight limp. Would the knee injury every heal? Shouldn’t the limp be gone? It had been more than three months since the incident. Perhaps the limp was fine, after all, she had been severely wounded, but it still worried him.

Astrid never complained about it, though he had seen her numbing the area on numerous occasions. He had only a few times asked her about the injury; he felt in was her business and he didn’t need to know unless she told him. Every since his awful behavior when he rescued her he had tried to give her space.

Guilt wrapped around his stomach at the thought of the event, and he cringed as the vivid image of Astrid’s shocked and betrayed expression clawed its way to the forefront of his mind. Neither had spoken of the incident again, but Hiccup recalled it daily. He slowly walked out on the deck of the clubhouse, just in time to see Heather and Astrid mounting their dragons to leave.

“Be careful!” he called after the girls as they speed off, only leaving him with a brief smile and wave in reply.

. . .

Astrid and Heather slowly approached Catia’s lonely island, watching somewhat nervously as her hut came into view. Astrid turned to her friend, envying the determined, fearless expression set on her face. Astrid wasn’t truly scared, just nervous. But if given the chance to turn back, she just might take it. She wasn’t looking forward to spending another night in chains.

“You think she’ll kill us?” Astrid asked Heather, flying a little closer to her.

“She might try,” Heather replied shrugging. “But I doubt she can outfight both of us.”

“She can outfight Stoick,” Astrid reminded.

“She caught him by surprise. We’ll be fine.” Heather reassured, slowing Windshear and preparing to land. Both girls touched down on the sandy beach in front of Catia’s shack, and with a quick glance at each other, they started toward it.

Catia seemed to have vanished. There was no sign of her in the little shack. The fire clearly hadn’t burned for days, there was no food or water, and the whole place seemed completely abandoned. Exchanging glances once again, the left the vacant hut and searched for her elsewhere.

The wandered through the forest, searching for some sign of human inhabitation. Every indication of Catia’s presence was gone.

“There’s no trace of her anywhere,” Astrid muttered as she and Heather climbed up a pile of boulders.

“We’ll find her,” Heather encouraged, brushing her hands of and preparing to climb up more rocks.

“The ghosts will be out soon,” Astrid commented, hoping Heather would agree to leave and come back later.

Heather laughed. “Ghosts?”

“Yeah, at around dusk the start moaning. We should probably leave.”

Heather laughed harder. “Astrid, you know there is no such thing as ghosts. You sound like Snotlout—worried about ghosts!”

Astrid folded her arms somewhat embarrassed. “I know what I heard Heather, the stone said there were ghosts on this island and I heard the moaning. If we wait long enough you’ll hear it too.”

“Stop being ridiculous.”

“I’m not being ridiculous! There are ghosts here!”

“Listen Astrid, we came here to find Catia, not ghosts. Quite worrying about a few noises and help me look.”

“You’re never going to find me if you keep arguing,” a voice from above them call.

Both looked up, surprised to find Catia watching them from the rocks above. She looked as if she had been there for a while, seated on a large bolder, fiddling with her hair.

She climbed down off her perch and eyed them warily. “What do you want?” she asked dubiously, moving her hand dangerously close to the dagger in her belt. Her tone and commanding presence quickly silenced Heather.

“We want your help,” Astrid began smoothly and seriously. “We are both enemies of Viggo. You obviously know how to fight him well, but you need back up. We need someone who knows how to battle him and win, and we can offer you back up.”

Catia eyed her skeptically. “Why do you want _my_ help? Don’t you have someone else?”

“Yes, but we need as many allies as we can get. Viggo is not a small enemy.”

“I have no reason to trust you, therefore I won’t.” Catia decided firmly, turning to leave.

“Wait!” Heather called after her, having finally found her tongue. “Your right. You don’t have a reason to trust us.”

Her curiosity peeked by Heather’s objection, Catia looked back over her shoulder, ceasing to climb up the rocky terrain.

“For all you know we might be enemies, ready to turn you over to Viggo,” she went on. “You don’t know anything about us, I know. But if you just give us a chance, you’ll know that we are not enemies. Want to your help and we want to help you.”

Catia remained on the rocks, her expression softening as she weighed out her options. “You have one week,” she said suddenly. “One week to prove that I can trust you.”


	2. Chapter 2

The dragon century alarm was sounded, the dragon riders on the Edge ran to the cliffs. Everyone scanned the sky for the dragons, excited to find three approaching from the east. Catia must be with them!

Two Razorwhips and a Deadly Nadder landed on the platform, their riders dismounting. “Catia,” Astrid started leading the other girl to where she could see their entire base. “Welcome to Dragon’s Edge.”

“It’s so much different from what I expected,” Catia murmured softly, suddenly seeming shy and timid. A sadness lingered in her eyes as she looked around, as if what she saw had sparked a distant memory of sorrow.

“You can stay in my hut,” Astrid went on. “I have plenty of room. And if you decide to stay, we can build you your own hut.”

Catia nodded in agreement, but her eyes seemed to say that she wouldn’t be staying long enough for a hut.

“Heather’s already started making dinner, so I’m going to head up and see if I can help her. You welcome to come with me.”

“Thank you,” Catia replied softly, “but I think I’d rather just get settled in.”

“Oh, sure,” Astrid stuttered slightly, shocked by the way Catia was acting. “I’ll take you to my hut.”

Catia quietly followed Astrid up to her hut, so meekly that everyone wondered if she was even the same person. Astrid set up a cot for her, and left Catia to “settle in,” and started up to the clubhouse.

She entered the kitchen, a delicious aroma greet her as well a quick smile from Heather. “So?” she pressed. “How is Catia?”

“Different,” Astrid said, trying to put it into words. “I’m really starting to think she has a split personality.”

Heather laughed a little, flipping the side of yak that she was frying. “What’s so different about her?”

“You know how she was really commanding and intimidating when we went to get her? Well, now she’s the exact opposite: shy, timid, quiet, almost vulnerable. I just can’t figure her out.” Astrid sighed and picked a spoon to stir the soup that was bubbling over the fire.

“It’s actually pretty obvious,” Heather replied, shaking out some seasonings on the meat. “What we’re seeing right now is the real Catia. She’s not outspoken or intimidating or dangerous. She wants us to believe that’s her, but it really isn’t.”

“Why would she bother with that?”

“Well, would you be scared of someone who is sensitive and sweet?”

“No, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Heather stopped what she was doing and sighed. “Astrid, when you live on your own long enough, you start to change. It becomes harder and harder to trust people, until one day you just stop trusting anyone. I don’t know anything about Catia’s background, but if I had to guess, something happened to her to make her close up. What, I don’t know, but we need to give her a reason to trust us.”

Astrid nodded, realizing not everyone’s life was as good as hers. She had parents who loved her, a home, all of her limbs, she’d never been abused or even bullied for that matter. She didn’t live with painful memories tearing at her and constant heartache. She had friends she could trust and knew would protect her. It was a revealing moment. People she knew, her friends, had experienced things she knew nothing about. She knew these things, of course, but it really hit home this time.

An idea popped into her head, and she excused herself from the kitchen. She spent the next few minutes giving Snotlout and the twins a “pep talk,” making sure that they wouldn’t say anything to freak Catia out. Snotlout in particular, as he had already mentioned several times how attractive Catia was.

Confident that they would treat her well, she ran back to her hut to invite Catia to dinner. She reluctantly agreed with a little persuasion, and slowly followed Astrid up to the clubhouse.

They sat down to dinner, which as usual was wonderful. Heather and Astrid kept a close eye on Catia. Although she complimented Heather on the food, she only picked at it and hardly ate a thing. They were relieved that everyone was nice to her, and mostly just ate their dinner, acting nothing was different.

Catia was finally starting to relax and it seemed as if her first real interaction with them would be a success, but then Hiccup decided to start asking her questions.

“So Catia,” Hiccup started with a smile, “where are you from?”

The girls immediately noticed how uncomfortable Catia looked.

“I come from many places,” Catia answered nervously. “But I was born in Greece.”

“Greece?” Fishlegs repeated. “Wow, you’re a long way from home! How did you get all the way out here?”

“I travel a lot,” she replied, ringing her hands under the table, glancing around like a scared rabbit.

“Do you have any family?” Hiccup asked, clearly just trying to get to know her, but Catia’s reaction showed the question was far too personal.

She swallowed thickly. “Not that I know of.” Tears were brimming in her eyes. Astrid knew the conversation needed to end quickly.

Hiccup’s forehead creased in concern. “What happened to-”

Astrid kicked him roughly under the table, warning him not to finish his question. The glare Heather gave him closed his mouth midsentence. Astrid turned to Catia. “Your name is beautiful. What does it mean?”

Catia took a shaky breath. “Pure.”

“Lucky!” Heather smiled. “I’m named after a plant. Nothing special about that.”

“A very pretty plant,” Catia answered, for the first time speaking without answering a question.

“True, but I don’t have a nickname. That’s a little annoying.”

“My name _is_ a nickname,” Hiccup in. “That’s annoying.”

Everyone but Catia laughed, though she did smile a little.

“Do you have nickname, Catia?” Hiccup leaned back is his chair, nonchalantly asking her the question.

Catia however, did not take it nonchalantly. Her face saddened and tears started to cloud her deep blue eyes. “My brother used to call me ‘Tia.’”

“You have a brother?”

A big tear rolled down Catia’s cheek, unnoticed. Astrid managed to see it plop on her lap, and she quickly motioned for Hiccup to stop. He only stared at her cluelessly.

“I had a brother,” Catia whispered. “He was…he died a few years ago.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. What happened to him?”

Astrid glared at Hiccup again, and he finally picked up on what she was trying to tell him…sort of.

“I didn’t mean to bring anything painful up. Sorry, Tia.”

At the sound of her nickname, Catia gave an anguished sob and ran from the table, leaving everyone but Heather and Astrid oblivious.

“Well, that was…sudden,” Hiccup commented, obviously still unaware of what he had done.

“It was not sudden, Hiccup!” Astrid snarled at him. “Could you not see that ‘family’ was a painful topic for her? She was sitting there crying and you just went on and on about what happened to them!”

“I couldn’t tell that she was crying, okay?! I was trying to get to know her!”

“Hiccup, don’t ever start with personal questions in these situations,” Heather instructed firmly, but much kinder than Astrid would have done. “We want her to trust us, and the worst way to do that is to open up old wounds.”

“I’m sorry, but how was I supposed to know that was a touchy topic?”

“Maybe since she hasn’t smiled once all night, particularly when you were talking, you should try and talk about non-personal things.” Astrid scowled, her hands of her hips. “Or, you could just not say anything! That might make all our lives better at this point!”

“Astrid!” Heather tried to stop her. She was upset with Hiccup as well, but she wasn’t about to start a bashing session.

“If you would stop trying to ‘help’ people, maybe you would stop hurting them!” Astrid shouted, tears welling up in her own eyes, though she had no idea why. “You are so insensitive!”

“Insensitive?!” Hiccup shouted back. “I am not the one hurling insults at people!”

“Maybe you aren’t insensitive then,” she growled. “Maybe you’re just a jerk. That would explain why you hurt people left and right and don’t do anything about it. It would explain why you don’t listen to anything we say. It would explain why you crowed yourself the leader, and say and do things without thinking and it would explain why you treat me like absolute _crap_ when no one else is around!”

The room went silent.

No one moved.

All eyes settled on Hiccup.

“What did you do?” Fishlegs finally spoke up, a challenge in his tone.

“He tried to slap me,” Astrid said softly before Hiccup could possibly say anything different.

A quiet gasp resounded in the near silence.

“I didn’t mean it,” Hiccup defended, wishing there was some way he could deny what he had done.

“Oh, I don’t care if you meant it, brother,” Dagur told him, stepping between him and Astrid as if he were trying to protect her. “I care that you did it.”

Hiccup glanced around the room, realizing that there was no one there to back him up, no one to take his side. Dagur and Fishlegs were protecting Astrid from him. The situation seemed unreal. _Dagur_ was protecting Astrid from _him_. Guilt churned in his stomach and for a second he thought he would mortify himself further by puking in front of everyone.

Hiccup slowly stood and swallowed to keep back the flood of emotions that wanted to come pouring out. “I know I did it Dagur, but I never wanted to. I would never hurt her.”

“Sounds to me like you tried,” Snotlout said, stepping forward.

Hiccup inwardly cringed. His cousin, who was the definition of “jerk,” was calling him out for being one. The only person here who might show him mercy would be Astrid, if he could get her to forgive him.

“Listen, Astrid, you know I didn’t mean it. You know I’m sorrier about this than anything else in my life. You have full right to call me out of this, but please understand it was just my own stupidity.”

Astrid’s glare softened a little, and he slowly and cautiously approached her. “You know I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You tried.” She refused to make eye contact.

“I know, and it was stupid.” he said it forcefully, mainly to reprimand himself, but it came across as if he had done so to make her stop. Unaware of what the others had seen, he reached out place his hand on Astrid’s shoulder as an act of friendship.

Dagur suddenly grabbed him, by the scruff of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. “What do you think you’re doing?!” he snarled through gritted teeth. “Gonna slap her again? Huh?”

“I didn’t slap her!”

“Still don’t care!” he shouted, his hot breath colliding with the cold sweat running down Hiccup’s face. “If I EVER see you touch Astrid again without her permission I will make you regret it! You stay away from her! And if I catch you _anywhere_ near my sister, I feed you to your own dragon! You got that, pretty boy?!”

Hiccup nodded, and Dagur all but threw him at the door, angrily granting him permission to leave. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder, watching as Heather comforted her friend, who was apparently fighting back tears.

He slowly walked up to his hut, suddenly remembering what it felt like to be rejected and hated. The worst possible feeling of déjà vu came over him: the walk back to his house at the end of the day, alone. That word was the worst word on the planet. Alone. Alone hurt. It stung like rain on a windy day, or an aggravated wasp. It ached and burned. It clawed at him with deadly talons, making the world colorless and dark.

He opened the door to his hut, and decided to leave it that way so his dragon could come in at some point. He sat down heavily on his bed and curled into a ball, the weight of the world on his shoulders. Well, not the whole world—just his, and his world was currently miserable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens! Hiccup's mistake has come back to haunt him, and now his friends hate him! Dun dun dun!
> 
> So, I know Catia is probably not a favorite character, but what do you guys think about her? Let me know in the comments!
> 
> Also, don't forget to leave Kudos! All you need to do is click the little button and BAM you've made my day!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

_The room was dark; quiet. The only sound was footsteps, and perhaps his own heavy breathing._

_“Hiccup?” The voice very clearly belonged to Astrid, but it sounded hollow and distant. “Hiccup?”_

_Hiccup rounded the corner of a dimensionless hallway; the walls seemed to be made of a smoky cloud. He traveled toward the sound of Astrid’s voice, an unexplainable anger burning within him. Astrid came into view, speaking something incoherent, but it angered him further._

_He raised his hand and smacked it across her face. She stumbled back with a cry of pain, and a cut suddenly appeared on her cheek, blood slowly seeping from it. Her outcry only made him more furious, and he slapped her again and again her slapped her face, and sobbing, she backed herself into a corner._

_“Please, Hiccup,” she begged, her eyes full of fear and her face pale. “Please don’t hurt me again!”_

_Ignoring her, Hiccup rushed at her again, ready to hit her for talking back. The smoke on the wall dispersed, revealing a perfect reflection of the scene. He stopped, the haunting image he faced sucking his strength away._

_He toward over Astrid, his hand raised to strike her again, his clothes stained with her blood. As he had glanced down at the girl in front of him, he realized the wounds were growing more and more severe. Horrified, her knelt next to her, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to apologize and treat the injuries, but nothing he did would fix them. She finally gave him one last look, one of terror, pain, betrayal and sorrow, and breathed her last, her body slumping lifelessly on the hard ground. He felt her final breath on his face, warm and sweet. With that breathe, her whole body dissolved into smoke, and in an instant was gone._

Cold sweat dripped down the back of Hiccup’s neck as he sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath and shaking uncontrollably. The nightmare was still playing in his mind—Astrid’s tears, his cruel words, the terror in her eyes.

The images flashing before him sickened him, guilt sloshing around in his stomach like water in a barrel. He could still blood trickling from her cheek, smeared across his hand…just the thought of it made him retch, and he staggered out the door, leaning on the wall for support. He practically fell out the door and onto his hands and knees, hurling the contents of his stomach over the edge of the cliff.

Hiccup crawled a few steps and collapsed against the side of his hut, trying to catch his still heaving breath. He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, hoping the fowl taste would leave with it. Guilt still tore at him, growing stronger every time the dream played itself over. It was starting to sink in, that horrifying thought—he had killed Astrid.

It was just a dream, but the guilt was still there. In all honesty, it was somewhat true. He had hurt her, and even she seemed to be okay with the incident, the truth was that the wound was still there. She didn’t trust him anymore. Of course, no one else trusted him anymore, either. They more than likely hated him; Dagur sure did.

His life was a mess. Maybe he shouldn’t be the leader. After all, he had only succeeded in making enemies. Viggo and Ryker were becoming bolder with their attacks, and Catia would probably kill all of them sooner or later. There seemed to be nothing he could do to fix the problems. He liked to fix things, and normally he was good at fixing things. But this time he couldn’t just “fix it.” No one even wanted him to try.

He was sick of trying, but he was mostly sick of failing. He was tired of taking the blame and coming up with solutions that didn’t work. He wanted to leave, and simply get away from all of the failures and problems.

The idea was inviting. He would just leave, go back to Berk. No one here would care at this point. Maybe by the time he returned to the Edge everyone would hate him a little less. It seemed like the best option. Come dawn, he would pack up and leave; no one would mind.

Except for him. As nice as leaving sounded, he didn’t want to go. This was where his use-to-be friends were. This was where the new dragon discoveries happened. This was their home; they had defended it against Ryker, Dagur, Fireworms and every other possible attack. It would be hard to leave all that behind.

He suddenly realized that he was tearing up. Surprised at himself, he brushed away the tears, but more took their place. Why in the world was he crying? For the love of Thor, he was nineteen! He wasn’t supposed to cry unless somebody died!

Deep down, however, he knew why he was crying. The agonizing memories of his childhood had been awakened. Many times he had thought running away would solve everything; perhaps he thought he could get away from the rejection. No one had wanted him, and now no one wanted him again.

Tears streaming down his sweat-streaked face, he drew his knees up and curled into a ball, as if it would somehow block out the world. That was exactly what he wanted, to block out the world. No pain, no tears, no stupid memories that wouldn’t leave him alone. It was the most pathetic chain of thought, but he was so hurt and upset that he really, honest to goodness, didn’t care.

“Are you okay?”

Hiccup glanced up, surprised. He didn’t even need to; he could tell it was Catia just by her voice. Perfect. Just perfect. The last thing he needed was for Catia to see him in this…state. He was a pathetic disaster, tearful, sweaty and still shaken from the nightmare, not to mention the barf all down the front of his shirt. Despite the obvious, he answered, “Yeah.”

Catia eyed him strangely and made her way over, as if she didn’t even care that he might want some privacy. “I don’t believe you,” she said flatly, seating herself beside him. “Crying does not mean ‘okay.’”

Hiccup wiped his eyes and refused to answer, hoping she would take the hint and leave.

“It is therapeutic, though,” she went on thoughtfully. “Crying, that is.”

“So?”

Catia shrugged. “So nothing. I was just thinking out loud.”

Why was she still here? Did she want something? She was probably after an apology for asking all those personal questions earlier. Well, he needed to get it off his chest anyway. “Listen, Tia, I’m really…” he trailed off as her face clouded when he used her nickname. “I’m really sorry about earlier. I was a bit of a jerk, asking you all those questions. I shouldn’t have put you on the spot like that.”

Catia smiled faintly. “It’s okay. You didn’t know any better. I probably over reacted.”

“Well, it was none of my business. I shouldn’t have even asked.”

“It is you’re business, Hiccup. This is your home, and you deserve to know who is coming into it.”

Slightly surprised by her calm response, he slowly started to relax. “Thanks for understanding.”

Catia offered a genuine, but halfhearted smile. “You’re welcome. And you can call me Tia. Sometimes it’s hard to hear, but I do love it.”

Hiccup stopped himself from asking why. No need to make her cry all over again. He suddenly had an idea. She was presently the only person who didn’t hate him and seemed full of good advice, so maybe he could tactfully pry some of it out of her. “You ever done some really stupid that you regret later?” he asked, staring off into the distance.

Catia chuckled softly. “The question is more appropriately asked ‘when was the last time is didn’t do something stupid and regret it later.’”

“I take it you’ve done a lot of stupid stuff?”

“Hasn’t everyone? But much of the ‘stupid things’ I’ve done really weren’t my fault. I couldn’t avoid them. I didn’t have a choice. Problems happen. Sometimes you can do something about it; other times there is nothing you can do. But more often than not, there is something we can do, we just don’t see it.”

“What if you do try to do something and someone else won’t accept that you’re trying to fix it?”

“You don’t give up. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that running from problems doesn’t ix them. People think that it does, but I know from experience that it only makes it worse.” Catia paused for a moment. “I’m sorry. I just gave you a lecture.”

Hiccup laughed. “Really, it’s fine. I needed it. Truth be told, when you first sat down, I wanted you to leave. But I’m glad you didn’t. I really needed to hear what you had to say.”

Catia smiled at his compliment. “Truth be told, I knew that. You’re a lot like me. We often need someone to sit down with us and talk, and if that doesn’t happen, well, things just get worse.” She stood to leave. “Oh, and I would suggest spending some time with Astrid tomorrow. She needs someone to talk to as well.” Catia smiled and left, leaving Hiccup with only her greatly needed advice.

. . .

The next morning came far earlier than anyone wanted it too, and Astrid and Catia were no exception. Though they were up much earlier that the twins, they still slept in quite a while.

Heather, on the other hand, was up before the sun, preparing the best breakfast she could think of. She wanted to somehow make up for Catia terrible first night on Dragon’s Edge, and she so she stared on her feast.

It wasn’t long before Astrid came to “help” her, which pretty much meant that she wanted to test taste everything. Catia tagged along, having nothing else to do. She asked Heather if she could help, indicating that she more than willing to do so. Heather asked her to fry the bacon, and soon realized that Catia certainly knew what she was doing.

“That’s a lot of spices,” Heather mentioned as Catia sprinkled on another seasoning. “Are you sure it won’t be too flavorful?”

“Yes,” Catia answered, flipping the meat over in the pan. “I didn’t have time to smoke the meat, so this will do.” She pulled a piece out and put it on a plate, then passed it to Astrid, instructing her to try it.

“Holy Viking!” Astrid exclaimed, stuffing another bite in her mouth. “This is amazing!”

“Let me try,” Heather said, setting down her spoon and taking a bite off the other end out the meat. “Wow! This is good!”

Catia smiled bashfully, though obviously enjoyed the compliments.

“Where did you learn to cook?” Heather went on, serving herself another piece. “This is absolutely delicious!”

“I worked in the kitchen of the roman Caesar,” she replied shyly, as if trying not to brag.

The mouths of the other two dropped. “Caesar?” Heather gawked. “Like the Emperor?”

Catia nodded.

“What was it like?” Astrid pried, scooting to the edge of the table she was seated on.

“Busy,” Catia said, slowly picking up on the excitement of her friends. “Someone was always doing something. And they had the most extravagant food! I remember this one holiday when we cooked 27 pigs! And we once cooked a peacock, but we had to reassemble all the feathers! They have clothes made of pure silk and satin, often more colorful than a sunset!”

Catia entertained them with stories until breakfast was finished and even into the meal. Everyone had to admit that the most riveting story was about when the royal family was almost poisoned and Catia had to be brought to the Caesar to testify that the head cook was innocent.

Hiccup never came to breakfast, but no one thought twice about it. Except for Astrid. She saved some food and secretly left her friends. Unnoticed, she discreetly walked up to Hiccup’s hut to bring him some breakfast. She nervously rapped on the door, glancing around to make sure no one had followed her. She certainly didn’t want to get him in trouble; she’d already done that.

“Come in,” a tired voice from inside muttered.

She creaked the door open and peeked in, searching around for Hiccup. She spotted him sitting in a chair at his desk, creating some piece of artwork. “Oh,” he said as he realized who it was. “Hi.”

“I brought you some breakfast,” she replied, awkwardly walking across the room to pass him the plate.

“Thanks,” he said, taking it from her just as awkwardly.

They stood for a minute, staring at the floor wordlessly.

“Hey, Astrid,” Hiccup finally spoke up, “I’m really sorry about last night.”

“I was the one who got you in trouble,” she shrugged, wanting to leave, but not sure if she should.

“No, I got myself in trouble,” he insisted, standing and pushing his chair out of the way. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have done what I did in the first place, and then I acted like everything was fine after it. It’s not okay, and if I could undo it I would.” His voice grew tight as he went on. “I’m so sorry, Astrid. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I promise I’ll never hurt you again. I’m so, so sorry.” A few tears slipped out as he begged her to accept his apology.

He was crying. Hiccup, the strongest person she knew, had been reduced to tears because he had hurt her. He didn’t have to feel bad. She had already told him everything was okay. But he still did. He was crying over her.

The thought brought tears to her own eyes, and she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. “Oh, Hiccup,” she whispered. “I already forgave you. I didn’t realize the hurt was still there, but when you made Catia cry…I guess it just came back. I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”

He sniffed and squeezed her, trying to wipe his eyes with a spare hand. “I got me in trouble,” he said again. “It’s one of my many talents.”

Astrid laughed, wishing he would hold her like this forever. “Will you forgive me anyway?”

“Nothing to forgive,” he quipped shakily. “But I still will.”

“Come on,” she said, suddenly, grabbing his hand and pulling toward the door. “Catia might still be telling stories. And believe me, they’re worth hearing. She finally told us about the moaning on her island! It’s not ghosts, it’s the Mockingwing call! She made up the whole ‘isle of the fallen’ thing to scare people away!”

The two jogged up the path to the clubhouse, too excited to notice the strange ship docked in a secluded notch in the rocks below, and a pair of malicious eyes watching them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! This completes Trust Me Not! Now I know I left you in a big cliffhanger, but the next story, Slave Trade, is written and will be posted soon. So keep a look out!
> 
> In the mean time, tell me what you think and don't forget to leave kudos!
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~Spinofflady


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